


rattle your chains if you love being free

by limitlessrose (shinealightrose)



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Corruption, M/M, No one is a Great person, Politics, Sexual Content, read the notes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-01
Updated: 2020-05-01
Packaged: 2021-03-02 05:42:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,166
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23940091
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shinealightrose/pseuds/limitlessrose
Summary: Ten is the trophy husband of politician Johnny Suh who was just busted on charges of corruption. Jaehyun is the lowly reporter who comes in seeking to know Ten's own sad side of the story.
Relationships: Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul | Ten/Suh Youngho | Johnny, Jung Yoonoh | Jaehyun/Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul | Ten
Comments: 20
Kudos: 87





	rattle your chains if you love being free

**Author's Note:**

> I watched too much Korean crime drama this week and this is what happened ok. 
> 
> Additional warnings  
> Referenced cheating, except it's not exactly cheating- you'll see.  
> Implied sexual relationships with other characters  
> Actual sexual content: Jaeten and Johnten. 
> 
> Look, I'm not saying Ten is a good person. It's just, you know. Circumstances :)

There’s a line of reporters already pushing against the fence line. Cameras flashing, a cacophony of shouts. 

“Mr. Suh! Mr. Suh, can you look over here!”

“Representative Suh, what do you think about the allegations against you?”

“Mr. Suh, will you comment on the report that-”

“Mr. Suh! Have you been called in by the prosecution yet?”

“Please look over here!”

“There’s a rumor an arrest warrant is pending-!”

The cameras are blinding, the wrought iron fence begins to creak against the strain of reporters and their crews, gawkers, and neighbors. The meager police force sent to keep order look far beyond their means. 

Ten bows his head under Johnny’s shoulder as they walk, letting Johnny’s jacket do the brunt of the work hiding his face. His arm wraps around him in a protective, defensive hold. Johnny’s other hand holds Ten’s hand in front of their bodies. His hand becomes slippier with sweat the closer they get to the swarm before the house. 

“Mr. Suh, have you canceled your vacation?”

“Are you going to resign?”

“Has your husband been called in as a witness?”

Ten winces. Johnny slows his step, and for the first time stares the reporter in the face saying, “Kindly keep all speculation about my husband to yourself.” He doesn’t sound kind at all. 

Their car is already waiting, bodyguards lining the door in tandem with the police. Johnny nudges Ten in first before standing up and, with an air of extreme unconcern, fixes the collar of his jacket, straightening his lapels, and slides in after. Right before the door closes, Ten gets a closeup glimpse of a man staring right at him through the passenger window of the car. He’s not looking at Johnny at all. Just Ten.

“Jungwoo, I think we’re ready now,” says Johnny to their driver. 

“Yes, sir.” 

And then they’re off, Ten with a long sigh. Johnny with no emotion at all. 

  
  
  
  
  


They’re pushing six years of marriage. Ten winds his ring around and around, savoring the heft of his three-carat diamond ring. Six years in the lap of luxury, six years with Johnny. Six years in and out of the spotlight of his husband’s career. 

Ten wasn’t born dirt poor, but his family certainly never had this kind of life. Now his mother has three penthouses in as many countries and two large country homes. His sister is on her second college degree. The first one didn’t suit her tastes. Ten has a master's in business, but he can’t say he’s put it to much professional use. Not officially, that is. Hard to find time for that kind of life when he’s flying around to fashion shows showing off his husband's hard-earned wealth and drinking $600 of single malt Scotch every night. Even the outfit he’s wearing now is probably worth more than this reporter makes in a year. Two years, maybe. 

“I saw you outside of my home.”

Ten reclines delicately in his chair. 

They’re in a restaurant, private room of course. Discretion of above all else. That’s Johnny's motto, and Ten _always_ takes it to heart. 

“I… was there, yes.”

Ten hums. “And what paper did you say you work for?” 

“I… don’t believe I did.”

“You’re a freelancer?”

“Yes.”

The man looks almost embarrassed about being a freelancer. Humility isn’t something Ten understands, except that some people have it. He takes to observing him instead. Soft brown hair, a little wavy. Like he attempted to spend a decent amount of money on a good hairdresser but still, it doesn’t make the cut. A nice suit. Fits him well. Navy blue. 

Ten wouldn’t be caught dead in navy blue. 

“Well, no matter, Mr. Jung. You did say your name was Jung?”

“Yes. Jung Jaehyun.”

“Alright then, Jung Jaehyun. What exactly do you want to know?”

  
  
  
  


Johnny’s been gone a lot. It happens when you’re the representative of a wealthy district and you definitely didn’t earn that spot in the legal manner. The arrest warrant was thrown out weeks ago, fortunately. For days the headlines spun a story of cooperation. It’s nothing new, in the grand scheme of events. And honestly, who really expects politicians to be above standing citizens, free of corruption, bribery, the whole lot. 

“Muffin, my darling, my baby girl, come here,” Ten coos at the animal clawing at his feet. It’s a Kurilian bobtail, mostly black with a white underbelly and the treasure of Ten’s life. The thing which keeps him otherwise sane when Johnny is gone. Along with other things. 

He lays his phone beside him, bored of the news sites, bored of celebrity gossip. Only three of his so-called ‘friends’ have even called since the reports of his husband’s corruption were leaked to the prosecution. Most seem to have given him up. At least for now. They’ll come crawling back once Johnny’s name has cleared. _If_ his name gets cleared. No one ignores power just for the fun of it. 

There are three unread messages on there now. Two are from his sister. One from that strange reporter he met several days ago. Ten likes that one the best. 

Instead of replying though, Ten kicks his heels up on the ottoman and reclines into the soft leather couch. Time for a nap. Then maybe he’ll do some laps around the pool, work on his tan. His ass has grown positively pale. 

Around ten at night, that’s when Johnny finally gives him a call. 

Ten smiles into the phone, a hand already sneaking past the silken drawstrings of his priceless pajama pants. A Christmas present from Johnny from just last year. 

“Hey baby, my darling. What are _you_ wearing tonight?”

Johnny’s voice is already husky. “Isn’t that my line?”

“Isn’t it?” 

The phone rustles and Johnny moans. The sounds of clothes coming off, pillows thrown around. “Baby, have you missed me?”

“Have I? Hmm, I don’t know.” 

Ten’s hand around his swelling cock is such a treat. 

“Wish I was there with you.”

“Mmmm.”

“What is this unfair world. Keeping us apart.”

“So unfair,” Ten agrees. 

“I want to eat you up.” Johnny’s voice gets lower and lower. “Tug at your ear, push my knee into your chest.”

“Sounds like you want me to eat you first.”

Johnny doesn't disagree. Just moans instead. 

“I’ll be home in a week,” he tells Ten, minutes later, before ending the call. “My lawyers have agreed I should sit down, do a couple of interviews, see how much of this we can put behind us.”

“Have they asked about the money yet.”

Johnny laughs. “Baby, everyone asks about the money. They just don’t say it so nicely.” 

“I love you.”

“Love you too. Don’t miss me too hard, okay?”

“I definitely won’t. Is Jungwoo still with you?”

“Yes.”

“Make sure he takes good care of you,” says Ten. 

“I can safely assure you that he does.”

“Good then. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.”

Ten sets his phone into the charger and lays back against the sheets, arms behind his head, eyes squinting into the darkness past his four-post bed, very large and very empty. The drying cum between his legs is starting to be cringeworthy. With a heave of disappointment, he leaves his bed and showers. 

Before crawling back to sleep, however, he plucks up his phone one last time. There’s a new message from Johnny, warning him about not answering calls from anyone claiming to be an attorney just looking to protect Ten and his rights. 

_Yes yes, I know. heart kiss_

Delivered 11:31 PM

Then, he rereads the one from Jaehyun. 

_Hi Ten. Just wanted to say again, thanks for talking to me the other day_

_I hope you haven’t been too lonely_

_and that you’re taking care of yourself._

Today 2:49 PM

_Sweetheart, you’re too nice. But yes I am lonely_

_Tomorrow around 3 or is that too early for you?_

_My editors got back to me this evening_

_Article will go out in a week_

_3 tomorrow sounds good. Same place we talked about?_

_Oh yes._

Read 11:34 PM

  
  


Some days, Ten really, really loves his life. 

  
  
  


He’s been dying to get a preview of Jaehyun’s article. Now, finally, with the draft in his hands, fresh off the printer from whatever hole in the wall office Jaehyun’s been using, Ten peruses it greedily. He appreciates the candid looking photos of him Jaehyun has provided. 

There’s the one of him and Johnny the day the report burst upon the scene and their front yard turned into hell on earth. Ten was wearing Armani that day. And five of his favorite one-of-a-kind hand designed silver earrings. 

Then there’s a picture of him and Johnny on their wedding day. Not the official portraits Ten and Johnny hang from their walls. This one is from the afterparty. Ten twirling in Johnny’s arms. 

The third photo is of Ten by himself. Alone in a restaurant. _This_ restaurant. 

“I don’t think the title really captures the piece,” he tells Jaehyun suddenly, quietly, without looking up. 

Jaehyun throws out a soft laugh. “I told the publishers it wasn’t good. They insisted.”

_Lonely husband spills facts about life with Corrupt Politician: The other story behind Representative Johnny Suh._

“It’s not a tabloid article,” says Ten in his own defense. “This is my life.” 

Ten treads carefully, softly. Jaehyun’s face is already full of remorse. 

“It… doesn't even have your name on it, I’m sorry.”

“Jaehyun, it doesn't have to have my name. I know I’m not an important person. Not like my… my husband. But you wanted to hear my side of the story and this title isn’t it, I’m afraid.”

“I know. I’ll really try to do better.”

This is now their fourth time meeting like this. Ten has grown fond of Jaehyun’s honest face, how earnest he is with Ten. Like Ten is truly a special person even outside of his marriage. Not many people treat Ten like he is his own person. Why should they? He’s the spouse of one of Seoul’s most powerful names. Ten, who presides over company dinners. Ten, the trophy husband. Ten, who single-handedly schmoozes all the other political wives and husbands and sometimes the seats of power themselves. No one treats him separately from Johnny. Until Jaehyun. 

“Enough talk. Have you eaten? I skipped breakfast this morning. My cat was asleep on my feet, and we sent away the cook two weeks ago. Couldn’t find a reason to get out of bed you know and- what, why are you looking at me like that?”

Because Jaehyun _is_ looking at him like that. Wide-eyed in wonder and pain, as if Ten skipping a meal is something noteworthy. 

“I…it’s nothing.” Jaehyun clears his throat. “You know this menu better than me. What would you recommend?”

“Hmm, depends on whether you eat caviar before the cocktail hour or not.”

Ten laughs, and Jaehyun smiles, and Ten finds himself once again liking the expressions he makes. They remind him of himself, once, a younger and much more innocent Ten. A naive and carefree Ten. 

Jaehyun is only twenty-six years old. Ten looked up some information on him of course. He’s worked all over the city, internships and the like. Freelancing. Hasn’t managed to gain a real footing, but that isn’t surprising. Guys like Jaehyun, Ten guesses— _Ten knows_ —unless they are willing to get their hands dirty, don’t tend to make it in this line of business. 

The media is just as corrupt as politics, just as dirty as the police. If not more so. 

Ten wants to help him. Take him under his wing. Set him free. Set himself free too. 

“I loved the rest of the article though,” he admits halfway through their meal. Jaehyun is a good lunchmate. Attentive and personable. Holds a conversation with ease and doesn’t resort to the weather or television as much as half of Ten’s rank and file associates. 

“Did you?”

“Yes. I mean, I know half of the piece is made up of my words. But your voice in it, the assembly. Honestly, can I say I’m astonished to find myself so easily on a piece of paper. I… that’s now how I’m allowed to look most of the time.”

“How… you’re supposed to look?”

“Yes. I mean there’s the person in these two photographs. And then there’s me. The real me.” Ten stops his finger over the solo portrait, smile lost or misplaced. The cold and empty chair across from him.

Jaehyun stops him from saying more though. “I know that’s you. But this was also you as well.” He glances at the wedding photo. “It’s easy to start happy.”

Ten lowers his eyes to the table, places his trembling hand on his temples. 

Jaehyun goes on. “This one is also you. I’m… I’m horrified you have to… to live in a world like this.” 

The photo of him and Johnny on D-Day. Corruption Day. 

Ten sighs, suddenly uncomfortable. “That is my life though. I signed up for it. I’m married to it. I-”

“Nobody deserves to live that way, Ten. Nobody. Not you. Especially not you.”

There is an out. 

The unspoken thing on the table. The offer in place. 

“Maybe,” says Ten slowly, “maybe what I don’t deserve, is someone like you, who is willing to hear my side of things.” 

“Ten, you do deserve to be heard. Your voice most of all.”

  
  
  
  


Johnny comes home on a Thursday night. Ten has just finished eating dinner by himself, not expecting his husband for at least another hour. 

“Jungwoo drove especially fast,” explains Johnny. “He knew I couldn’t… ahh, I couldn’t… stand… being away from you… for so long.”

Ten has his tie off before Johnny is even done speaking. Two of his buttons have gone flying before Johnny protests and moves Ten’s hands away from his shirt, smirking as he undoes it himself. Then Ten is falling to his knees and nosing at the inside of his husband’s thigh.

“Missed your dick so much, baby,” he says. 

Johnny sets a record for how fast his pants come undone. Ten doesn’t waste another moment. He takes his husband's thick cock into his mouth, moaning at the taste, moaning at the sounds Johnny makes above him. His hands pry into the soft flesh of his legs, kneading the skin, ignoring that one mark on the inside of Johnny’s thigh which is definitely recent enough not to be Ten’s handiwork. 

“Slow down, shit, baaaaby,” coos Johnny from somewhere up above. 

So Ten does. He slows his hand, stretches out his tongue, lifts his eyes towards his husband, knowing Johnny can’t handle when he looks at him this way. Through ruffled eyelashes, mouth full.

Johnny comes down his throat in under five minutes. 

Ten swallows, falls back on his heels, and stands up. He turns his back from Johnny, ignoring him completely. Then he walks down the hallway. Slowly. Oh so slowly. Losing one piece of garment after another. 

He passes the driver still hauling Johnny’s luggage down the hall on the way to the master suite. Jungwoo is decent enough _not_ to mention Ten’s lacey undies now on full display. 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


“I’m scared, Jaehyun.”

“Of what.”

Ten rolls over on the bed, pulling the soft down of the comforter with him. The windows are closed. Jaehyun has forgotten to put the Do Not Disturb sign on the other side of the door. That probably won’t be a problem. This is a high-class hotel. No one is going to bother anyone staying on the thirtieth floor. Not in this room at least. Ten paid in cash. 

“It’s tomorrow, isn’t it. That it comes out,” he whispers. 

“Oh. Oh, Ten. You don’t have to worry.”

“What is he going to say though. Jaehyun, I haven’t even talked to him about… what’s happened. Not since that fateful day.” He laughs. 

“Not even once?”

“What, you think men who make their money like he does actually talk about the consequences of it?”

Jaehyun murmurs, but he doesn’t say anything. Instead, he reaches over, a soft hand caressing Ten’s exposed collar bone. His other hand is already laced with Ten’s beneath the covers. 

“But, guys like him. They must have plans in place, right? It’s why he wasn’t even arrested. Doesn’t he discuss any of that with you?” 

Ten grins, a sour expression. “Plans, yes. But the plan always involves everything magically working out. I don’t think I’ve seen him break a sweat over this. Not even once.” 

Ten wants to fall asleep so bad. He’s utterly exhausted, and scared. He wants to roll over and kiss Jaehyun’s lips again, and hear soft words of comfort for hours and hours. But it’s the middle of the day and Johnny’s expecting him home in two hours to meet with his colleague from the 145th district and his wife, Joy. Ten utterly _hates_ conversing with Joy. He’s never met a single person who can preen better than him, though if they made a true competition of it, Ten is certain he’d win. 

“I should shower.”

Jaehyun doesn’t say anything, so Ten does roll over. Looking at him through the darkened room, he’s struck with how beautiful Jaehyun is. How effortlessly handsome. What’s he even doing trying to make a living in this terrifying world? That’s Ten’s job. Jaehyun should have been kept away from it. He’s an angel in the middle of this hell. Ten wishes he would be anywhere else, but tomorrow the article will drop, and Jaehyun won’t be able to escape it then. He’ll be the man who wormed first-hand information from Johnny Suh’s own beloved husband, and it’ll make him famous. Jaehyun won’t be able to retreat from the world then. 

“Don’t shower just yet.”

Ten makes a face. “But I smell so bad.”

“Says who. Maybe you just smell like me.”

And that makes Ten smile. Not many people can do that to him. Not like this, a genuine smile. A smile like Ten hardly recognizes on his face anymore. Not since he became the person he is now. 

“So, maybe just a little while then?” 

He leans over. Continues moving until he’s straddling Jaehyun’s legs once more and whispers headily, “What if I’m late to that dinner. Will the world even end?”

“Ten,” says Jaehyun, already gasping and wrapping his hands around Ten’s waist. “What could end.”

“Oh, right,” says Ten. “Gotta wait for tomorrow.”

As before, Ten gets to appreciate how attentive Jaehyun is as a lover. Nothing rushed, everything savored. From the drag of their tongues against each other, from the way he touches Ten’s face, like he’s precious. Fragile, breakable. Loveable. 

It’s Ten who gets impatient, wanting more, more touches. More noise. More everything. Ten who wants Jaehyun to know he’s not as fragile as that. Leaning down to kiss him, Ten seizes the upper hand, spinning them over again and pushing Jaehyun’s chest away until Ten has the best view. Jaehyun who is perched above his lap with his rock hard abs on display, a flush from his cheeks to his navel and one gloriously hard cock which Ten takes in his hand. 

“Ride me, baby? Please?”

“Ten…”

“Wanna see you like this. Being such a good boy for me. Please… it’s what I need.” 

“Ten… shit. Shit, yeah. I wanna do that too. For you. All for you.”

  
  
  
  
  
  


Ten and Johnny are sitting side by side when the news story breaks. Johnny wordlessly holds up his tablet. Ten leans in to read it. Wondering how it will come out. Did Jaehyun win his battle with the publisher? Will the title be good. Good enough for Ten?

_The Ten Story: Life and Love from the Unglamorous side of Dirty Money_

Good enough. 

“What do you think?”

Johnny doesn’t say too much at first. He reads the article, once, then twice. Then three times. Ten already has it memorized thanks to Jaehyun’s drafts. 

Ten’s phone starts lighting up with notifications mere seconds after the story goes public. He stares at the screen in wry amusement. Johnny’s phone is starting to do the same. He sighs, ciphers through a few of the messages before stopping. He holds it up. 

“It’s from your mother.”

Ten curses. “Shit, I forgot to warn her. What does she say?”

“That I’m a dead man if any of this is true.”

“Hmmm,” Ten muses. “Guess you’re a dead man then. Have you packed your bags?”

“They’re in the car.” 

“Good.”

Ten packed his things last night. Just as soon as that wretched dinner was over. Johnny’s apologies accompanying his every move. 

“You better tell Jungwoo to be prepared,” Ten adds after some minutes of silently thinking away. 

“I thought you had already done that.”

“Hmm. Guess I forgot. Oops.”

One of those tasks he was contemplating doing yesterday, except he got home too late. Jungwoo’s name is all over the story too, embedded in the wild underbelly of corrupt living, and sleazy covert affairs. Ten doesn’t consider it unfair. Jungwoo too knew what he was getting into when he signed on to this household. Not everyone is like Jaehyun, too good for the world. 

“This reporter. What’s he like?”

Ten scoffs. “You really want to know?” 

But Johnny suddenly throws the tablet. It lands on the coffee table and keeps going, skidding right off the other side. 

“Oops,” he says, after a long pause.

Ten smiles. 

There are a few more things yet to do. The first is to not be here when even more reporters show up at their front gate, this time for Ten, not just Johnny. Ten has been painted like a true victim. His name will become a sob story for the horrors of political marriages nationwide. 

Ten, doesn’t want to deal with all that. He’s bound for the Bahamas, soon as he can. 

“I want to see him.”

“Who? Jaehyun?” says Ten, shocked. 

“Yes, Jaehyun. Jung Jaehyun, whatever his name is. I said, I _want_ to see him.”

And Ten scowls. “Like hell you will.”

“Ten.” Johnny’s warning grumble is deep and disturbing. 

Without answering, Ten gets off the sofa. Walks to his room to oversee he hasn’t left anything behind. 

“Ten!” Johnny is still shouting when he enters his bathroom one last time, just to wash his face. 

  
  
  
  
  
  


Ten’s private plane is waiting on the tarmac. He stands there, not boarding. Cell phone in hand. His luggage has long since been sent up. There’s a flight staff standing bored, waiting for his signal. The pilot is probably napping, flight plan ready but not quite sent off to the right authorities. 

Ten is anxious. For the first time in a very long time, he’s genuinely anxious. 

His last message to Jaehyun has been on _Read_ for two and a half hours. He’s received no guarantee that Jaehyun will even be here, no word of reassurance. 

Does Jaehyun love him? That’s what Ten isn’t one hundred percent sure of. But all powers of opinion say yes. Yes, maybe. Ten is banking on that. Ten is praying hard that when a taxi rolls up and the passenger door opens that it’ll be him. It’ll be his Jaehyun, still wide-eyed but perhaps just a little bit bold. The Jaehyun who let Ten take him in his clutches for hours and hours. Who will maybe, maybe, come and be with him now. 

Ten turns away. Doesn’t want to be disappointed if it isn’t him. The door slams shut, the sound of it half-eaten by the wind. He can’t hear if anything is said to the driver. But there is… someone approaching him. Someone coming closer, and closer. 

Then right beside him. Right in front of Ten.

“Ten.”

Ten opens his eyes. And it _is_ him. 

“You made it. You…. you really came.”

Jaehyun doesn’t say, ‘Of course I did.’ Knowing him, Jaehyun probably sat up all night deliberating what to do. He probably persuaded himself a billion times not to come. But in the end. He’s here. 

Ten smiles. And Jaehyun smiles. Ten takes his hand. 

“Come on. Let’s get out of here,” he says. 

He leads them to the boarding steps. Lets one of the flight staff fetch Jaehyun’s tiny, modest suitcase, barely made for overnight travel. Oh, poor Jaehyun. Ten can teach him how to really live after this. 

On board finally, they meander down to the back of the plane, cordoned off for privacy, just in case. 

“Jaehyun… “ says Ten, knowing this is the part that will change everything. “Jaehyun, I want you to meet Jungwoo. Don’t be intimidated by his height, he’s an absolute doll. Also, this is my husband. Johnny. It was Johnny’s idea by the way. He’s really looking forward to getting to know you this weekend.”

Ten doesn’t have to see it to know, as he separates himself from only one of Jaehyun’s hands, but also tucking himself lovingly into Johnny’s side, that his husband is absolutely going to _eat him up._

  
  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Bc I’m too lazy for an actual epilogue. Johnny uses the sob story about Ten to make a pitiful plea to the press about how this false corruption story has nearly ruined his marriage with Ten, the love of his life. He’s had to take his precious husband away on vacation just to cope with the rumors. Pooh pooh what a hard life. And did Ten use Jaehyun? Absolutely. But he also wants to keep him. 
> 
> I'm sorry. wait, no I'm not LOL  
> Please leave me comments!
> 
> @shinealightrose


End file.
